Across the nation, priest sexual abuse cases haunt Catholic parishes
USA TODAY Aug. 23, 2017
In May 2003, Thomas O’Brien, then bishop of the Diocese of Phoenix, admitted to sheltering at least 50 priests accused of sexual abuse, often shuffling them around to parishes across the state.

O'Brien's admission, released under an agreement with the county attorney, acknowledged he "allowed Roman Catholic priests under my supervision to work with minors after becoming aware of allegations of sexual misconduct." He also waived his own immunity should sexual misconduct allegations against him surface.

Thirteen years later, in a lawsuit filed last September, O'Brien — now bishop emeritus — was accused of sexually abusing a grade-school boy.

In recent months, USA TODAY Network reporters at the Pacific Daily News have uncovered scores of allegations involving 14 Catholic priests on Guam, where a former altar boy's accusation last summer that Archbishop Anthony Apuron sexually abused him in the 1970s has prompted other revelations.

Abuse cases also have roiled Catholic parishes elsewhere the nation, sometimes decades after evidence of the crimes first emerged....

In the O'Brien case, an Arizona man sued, claiming repressed memories resurfaced two years ago, according to court documents. The lawsuit accuses O'Brien, now 81, of sexual abuse from 1977 through 1982. O’Brien, who stepped aside as an active bishop in June 2003 after he was found guilty of leaving the scene of a fatal accident, denies the accusation.

The suit names 60 other Roman Catholic priests or church employees, dating back to the 1950s and alleges a cover-up....

In 2002, as a child sexual abuse scandal in Boston's archdiocese engulfed the Catholic Church, The News Journal in Wilmington, Del., began chronicling decades of child abuse, cover-ups and quiet transfers of priests from one parish to another.

The counts that were dropped alleged the church had financial and oversight responsibilities related to O'Brien's alleged actions.

In their motions to dismiss multiple allegations in the lawsuit, attorneys for the church contended that some of the accusations were too broad and sweeping. Declaring the Phoenix Diocese a public nuisance would be akin to "creating a new law," defense attorney John Kelly said in the church's response....

Allegations stem from repressed memories

The allegations remaining in the civil case arise from what court documents describe as repressed memories that resurfaced two years ago while an Arizona man was attending his son's baptism.

The abuse is alleged to have begun in 1977 when the plaintiff, identified in court documents as "Joseph W.," was in the second grade.

"The abuse often took place before or during church services attended by Joseph W. and his family," the lawsuit states, "and under the guise of Bishop O'Brien showing Joseph W. how to assist with some aspect of the ceremony."

In 2002, the Maricopa County Attorney's Office initiated a grand-jury investigation into sexual abuse by Catholic priests at the Phoenix Diocese. O'Brien was the bishop in charge of the diocese at the time.

By 2003, O'Brien admitted to sheltering at least 50 priests accused of sexual abuse, often shuffling them around to different parishes across the state....

Clergy sex abuse suit says former priest Brouillard swam naked, molested Scouts
Haidee V Eugenio Aug. 19, 2017
A former Boy Scout accused former priest Louis Brouillard of sexually abusing him around 1977 or 1978 at Lonfit River, according to a lawsuit filed in the District Court of Guam.

The accuser, identified in court documents only by his initials V.Q., filed a $10 million lawsuit Friday afternoon against Brouillard, the Archdiocese of Agana, the Boy Scouts of America and its Aloha Council Chamorro District.

V.Q., represented by attorney David J. Lujan, is the 98th person to file a childhood sexual abuse lawsuit on Guam involving the Catholic Church....

"During these Boy Scout activities, Brouillard sexually molested and abused V.Q. On numerous occasions, while swimming, Brouillard would swim completely naked and routinely instructed V.Q. and the other boys to remove their clothes, and Brouillard would grope and touch their private parts," the lawsuit says.